Natural disasters kill 197 since January: BNPB

JAKARTA. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said 197 people had died and 64 injured due to natural disasters since the beginning of January 2014.

According to BNPB data, there were 282 natural disasters from Jan.1 to Feb.16.

BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in addition, 1.6 million people had been displaced and tens of thousands of homes damaged.

Sutopo said natural disasters had also caused huge economic losses. Flash floods in North Sulawesi caused losses of Rp 1.87 trillion (US$160.82 million) while eruptions from Mount Sinabung will cost in excess of Rp 1 trillion and flooding along Java’s northern coastal highway (Pantura) and in Jakarta caused Rp 6 trillion and Rp 5 trillion respectively.

He said that the government and local administrations had to work very closely to reduce the disaster risks.

“Disaster risk reduction must become a priority. This should be seen as a development investment. We must reduce the impact these disasters have,” said Sutopo.

Citing an example, he said that in the US, every US$1 donated to disaster risk reduction activities could save up to $7 of disaster-related losses while in European countries, every $1 could save between $10-$40.

“Compared to other countries, in Indonesia, such disaster risk reduction activities might bring greater benefits as we have more social capital,” said Sutopo. (Apriadi Gunawan)